Steven Arrives
by summerpine
Summary: One-shot: Steven Universe is born. Rose didn't tell Greg that she and Steven couldn't exist at the same time. Pearl knew this day was coming. But when Steven is born, she couldn't have anticipated how it would feel to lose her. (Rated T for peril, death, and birth themes).


Steven Arrives

Or

Pearl's Loss

"Hey, throw me another one of them hot dogs!" Amethyst commanded, leaning out of her lawn chair to point at a grease-stained paper plate of leftovers. With unbelievable precision, Garnet grabbed the plate and threw it directly into Amethyst's awaiting hand. Pearl turned her nose up at the purple gem's disgusting sounds as she wolfed the hot dog down, plate and all.

"You know, you don't have to eat the plate." Pearl remarked.

Amethyst licked her fingers. "But that's the best part!"

Pearl rolled her eyes but smiled, her gaze returning to the ocean before them.

It was late afternoon in beach city. The sky was a deep orange and pink that reflected off the water, blurring the horizon line so that one had to concentrate to see where sea ended and sky began. Lazy seagulls trotted the beach, occasionally pecking the sand and hopping faster when a wave came close to touching their feet. A soft, warm breeze from the west brought scents of salt to the occupants currently sitting on the porch of a half-built house.

"What a wonderful evening." Rose Quartz sighed, sinking deeper into her folding chair. The chair creaked under her weight, which was even greater than usual: Rose was pregnant. Next to her in his own folding chair, Greg rubbed her arm.

Usually, Pearl would have sneered quietly at the sight of Greg and Rose together. At best, she barely tolerated the long-haired, guitar-playing human. But tonight was different. Summer was winding to a close, and Rose had insisted that before fall set in, they all have an old-fashioned American barbeque. Greg fired up his grill and made hot dogs for everyone. Although Greg and Amethyst were usually the only ones that ate human food, even Rose had given in to her craving for a hot dog.

With the setting sun sending sparkles across the orange-reflected water and the sounds of a happy Rose Quartz beside her, the usual annoyances of Greg and Amethyst's eating seemed to fade into the background. For once, Pearl had no complaints.

"I'm so glad the house is almost done," Rose remarked. "The porch is already beautiful."

"Yeah," Amethyst added, "Now we don't have to live in a cave anymore. Not that I couldn't handle the cave…but you can fit an actual refrigerator in a house."

Greg grinned. "Well, we can't bring in any appliances until it's finished. But yeah, we can put in a fridge."

Garnet spoke, commanding attention like a president at a podium. "Thanks for all your help, Greg. We couldn't have done this without you."

Greg beamed and blushed at the same time. Although Pearl usually would have rolled her eyes at such a human reaction, she found herself all too easily smiling back.

"Yes, thank you for your help Greg." She said.

Rose seemed to sense that Pearl was more at ease than usual. She put a large, pink hand on Pearl's shoulder, and Pearl found herself beaming along with Greg.

"This is what I love most about the human world," Rose said, turning her gaze back to the ocean. Her eyes glittered with happiness in the light of the setting sun. "The lazy days. The days where we can just be together and reflect on the natural beauty that this world has to offer."

Whenever pearl spoke about what she loved in the human world, her voice carried such a reverence that it calmed everyone around her. Greg interlocked his fingers with Rose's, and Amethyst leaned back in her chair. Even Garnet seemed to lower her shoulders.

Pearl rested her chin in her hands.

"And to top it all off," Rose continued, "The best part about today is that we all get to share it together. Share in the sun, the sand, and the hotdogs!" She chucked a little bit.

Sneaking a glance at Greg, Pearl saw him staring at Rose so lovingly there were stars in his eyes. As much as she didn't care for him, Pearl had to admit that he loved Rose so deeply it could go almost unrivaled. Almost.

Pearl closed her eyes, for a moment, at peace.

But just a moment.

"Oh" Rose suddenly interrupted her speech. "Oh…"

Pearl turned her gaze to Rose. She had one hand on her pregnant stomach, staring quietly. Greg's eyes widened, the stars disappearing.

"Oh, my!" Rose clenched a fist together. "The baby! Greg, the baby is here!"

In the blink of an eye, the atmosphere turned from lazy to frantic. Everyone quickly stood, and Greg leapt up so quickly his chair tipped over.

"Rose! Oh, it's time, it's time!" He started frantically petting Rose's arm, clearly more distraught than her. "We have to get you inside! Quick, to the hospital! No, not to the hospital, they can't treat gems…Ah! We have to hurry!"

Garnet put her arm on Greg's shoulder. "Greg, go get a pot of warm water and a towel, like we planned. I'll bring Rose into the living room." She winked at him, with a slight smile. "You're going to be a daddy."

Absorbing this information seemed to calm him down a little. With a determined smile, Greg kissed the top of Rose's head and dashed inside the house. Garnet heaved a panting rose out of her chair and followed him. The baby was coming!

But Pearl was frozen in fear on the porch. The gravity of the situation hit her full force, like a tidal wave to the beach. Rose and Steven could not exist at the same time. It wasn't possible. These were the last moments Pearl had with Rose Quartz.

And as she listened to the sound of Greg thumping around in the house, she was struck by jealousy…Greg was blissfully ignorant.

He didn't know…

Suddenly, Pearl jumped at the feeling of Amethyst taking her hand. The gem looked at her with a bittersweet expression.

"Now we get to meet Steven." She said hopefully.

Pearl forced a half-smile. "Yeah, Steven."

The two of them walked into the house.

As Rose's contractions continued, the house was enveloped into more chaos. Garnet seemed to be the only one holding her composure, telling people to do different tasks.

"Amethyst, go get another towel."

"Pearl, get Greg an asprin."

"Greg, calm down."

He took a deep breath, but quickly returned to his panicked breathing. He was kneeling beside Rose, who was positioned on the floor. She had Greg's hand in a death grip, and every time she gave his hand another squeeze, his eyes widened to the size of planets.

"Are you ok? Are you in pain? How are you doing?" He bombarded her with questions.

Rose managed to chuckle through contractions. "I'm fine, Mr. Universe."

The sound of his nickname seemed to ease his nerves a little.

As the night pressed on, Pearl tried harder and harder to keep her composure together. She could not cry right now. These were the last moments she was gong to get with Rose Quartz, and she would not squander it by turning into a pile of emotional mush. It was illogical. She would enjoy every moment that she had.

When the moment came, Garnet (being the least squeamish of the Gems) positioned herself near Rose's feet. Before long, Garnet was wrapping a curly-haired boy in a blanket. He seemed to be sleeping.

Greg had stars in his eyes again. "Steven!"

He reached out and Garnet delivered the baby to his awaiting arms. The amount of love in his eyes was almost too much for Pearl to witness. He reached up and stroked Steven's cheek gently.

"G…Greg…let me…see him."

When Rose spoke, the weakness in her voice shocked everyone but Greg.

He gently lowered the sleeping baby into his mother's hands. Rose encircled the baby with her arms, rubbing noses with him. Her hair fell gracefully around her shoulders, some stray pink ringlets pouring onto the newborn's blanket.

"Steven, my love." She whispered, grinning. Greg wrapped his arms around Rose and Steven, hugging his family close. Pearl felt like she was intruding just by being in the room, but the scene calmed her. The amount of love beaming from the trio almost made her feel better. It was contagious, and the room seemed to glow.

Suddenly, Greg started noticing.

"Rose, where's your gem?" He observed cautiously, his gaze locked on the cutout in Rose's dress. Where there used to be a glowing, circular pink gem, bare skin was all that remained.

"Greg…" Rose whispered, commanding his attention. She leaned towards him and placed a hand on his cheek. "I want you to know I love you and Steven more than anything in the world."

A tone of alarm crept into Greg's voice. "Rose, are you okay?"

Suddenly, Rose's arms slackened a little, and she fell back against a stack of pillows. Greg took the baby from her and grabbed her hand with the other.

"Hey!" He shouted, startled. His frantic eyes swept the room before they locked on Garnet. "Something's wrong!"

But Garnet, all too aware of what was happening, could only duck her head. Pearl saw a tear slide out from the bottom of her sunglasses.

This made Greg panic even more. He turned to Pearl and Amethyst. "Please, she's hurt! Please do something, I don't know how…"

"Greg," Rose whispered again, and Greg looked into her eyes. She leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips before leaning back again. "I'll see you in the cosmos."

Suddenly, Rose started glowing with a pink light. It glowed brighter and brighter until the room seemed to burn in the presence of a rose-colored sun. And just like, that, the light exploded, and Greg was left with a baby in one arm and empty air in the other. A couple stray rose petals rested on the carpet in her place.

Although the room sat in silence for only a minute, Pearl felt as though it was a thousand years. Her arms, previously clutching a clean towel to her chest, fell to her sides. Stepping over the dropped towel, she lightly crossed the room to where Rose had been only seconds before, staring at the petals on the newly-finished hardwood. With shaky hands, she picked one up. It still smelled like Rose…like a fresh garden on a spring day…

Soon enough, Greg was frantic once again.

"Rose!" He yelled, standing up. "Rose! What happened! Rose!" He turned to Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl as his eyes darted in every direction, desperately searching.

"Where did she go? What happened? TELL ME!" He shouted, tears streaming down his face.

For a moment, everyone just stood still, staring at him, unable to say the words. Tears were still creeping out from under Garnet's sunglasses as she refused to make eye contact. Amethyst simply stared back, wide-eyed and grief-stricken. But finally, it was Pearl who stepped forward, numb and heartbroken.

"Rose…didn't want us to tell you." She started, carefully searching for how to phrase it. "But…Gems..." She avoided eye contact as she stumbled, but felt too devoid of empathy to care. With closed eyes, she rubbed the petal on her cheek.

Greg stared, calculating what pearl was trying to say.

She continued. "You see, when Rose found out she was pregnant, she knew that…the baby might inherit her gem. If Rose's gem belonged to Steven, she would lose her physical form. But since Steven is half gem, if he didn't inherit it, he wouldn't survive. Either her or the baby was going to…cease to exist. And this time…Steven…was the one to exist."

Pearl's words hung in the air, feeling stale.

"Why didn't you STOP her?" Greg suddenly spat. "if you KNEW this was going to happen, why didn't you SAY anything?"

Suddenly, a flash of anger arose so quickly in Pearl she couldn't control it. Her eyes flew open and she took a step forward. "We did warn her! Don't you think that we tried? We TOLD her this would happen!"

Greg's usually friendly face contorted into a frown. "Then why didn't you tell ME?" he shouted back. "If I would have known that this was going to happen, I could have been the one to stop her! I could have told her NO!"

"You don't UNDERSTAND!" Tears started streaming down Pearl's face. The numbness that had set in before was now being chased away by desperation and grief-fueled anger. Greg's comments had enraged her, and words started spilling out of her mouth with almost no control. "She didn't realize until AFTER she was pregnant! She didn't consider the full implications of what a baby would bring because she had never gotten that far!

And Rose…" Pearl's voice cracked for only a moment on the sound of her name. "She was too caring to tell you what was happening. She KNEW it would break your heart to tell you that her days were numbered, but you have the GALL to sit here and tell us that we should have WARNED YOU! You are the cause of this mess, and she STILL wanted you to be happy! You were everything to her, but in the end…" Pearl braced herself and clenched her fists.

"You KILLED HER!" She screamed.

The room was still.

Greg was frozen, too surprised to move. Garnet had stopped in her tracks on her way to calm Pearl down, and Amethyst had both hands over her mouth in shock.

The sound of Steven's crying then pierced the room. He had remained asleep until this point, but was now whimpering and kicking in Greg's arms. This seemed to awaken Pearl from her rage. She stumbled back couple of steps, realizing the gravity of what she just said.

"I…I…" she started to say, but couldn't get any farther as frustration evaporated into tears. The pain on Greg's face made it impossible for her to be angry any longer. She ran out the door and back onto the porch where Rose had been alive just hours beforehand. Her body collapsed on the banister.

"I'm sorry" She whispered out to the ocean, which was now sparkling with moonlight. "I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do without you." She clenched her jaw as her vision blurred. "I did everything for you…and now what am I supposed to do…"

It could have been hours that Pearl was out on the porch. Time didn't feel real to her. But after a while, the sounds of Greg and Steven's crying slowed to a halt and there was silence in the house. The moon made it's way steadily across the sky, a sign that daybreak was fast approaching. She didn't really care. She could stay out on this porch for forever.

It didn't register when the door creaked open until she heard the voice that accompanied it.

"Pearl." Greg said softly.

She turned towards him. He was standing on the porch with Steven in his arms, all bundled up in blankets. Greg's eyes were red and puffy from crying, but at least Garnet had given him a fresh shirt.

"I know that…I wasn't…I…" She started, but found herself struggling to choke out an apology. Pearl despised having lost her temper, but part of her couldn't be sorry. She knew it wasn't right to blame Greg. She knew it was Rose's choice. She knew it. But the overwhelming grief that was drowning her made it far easier to point fingers at this long-haired human than the gem she loved so dearly. Greg seemed impervious to Pearl's inner turmoil as she fell silent. Finally, he sighed, and then spoke.

"Do you want to hold him?"

Pearl hesitated a moment, not quite wanting anything to do with the being that took Rose away from her. But Greg slid the warm little bundle of blankets into her arms. Steven's face looked peaceful, and although he was born merely hours ago, he had a full head of curly black hair. His eyes were closed once again in slumber. His soft belly moved up and down slowly in time with his breath.

Greg was smiling again. "Look, he has her gem."

He tucked a finger underneath the edge of the blanket and slid it down over Steven's belly. There, in place of his belly button, was a round pink gem that gave off a faint glowing light. Just like hers. Pearl felt a wave of affection wash over her. She was here, a part of this tiny baby.

Pearl extended a finger and pushed it into Steven's limp hand. He immediately responded by squeezing back a little bit, never awakening.

But it was too much. She pulled her hand back. This was wrong.

"Here," Pearl extended Steven back to Greg hastily. "I…can't. I can't." Pivoting towards the stairs, she tried to make her way off the deck, but Greg moved to stand in front of her. Taken aback by the confrontation, Pearl's brow furrowed and a wisp of anger danced across her features.

"Please," Greg's voice was soft and pained. "Please. You can hate me. But not him. Please not him."

Despite the brief flash of anger, Pearl felt weakened and sick in the presence of Greg's vulnerability. It was like looking in a mirror: His broken demeanor reflected her own inner disrepair. And she couldn't do it. She couldn't face the human man Rose chose over her, but she couldn't hate him either. It was all so confusing.

Pearl blushed a deep blue and bit back tears as she strode forward, bumping Greg's shoulder on her way past. She knew she shouldn't be angry. But as her feet thumped down the deck stairs and onto the beach, all she could think about was how she might never see those bouncy pink ringlets again.

"I'm sorry." She whispered softly back up the porch. "But I can't."


End file.
